Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsWrong title and promotion; The published book was not as advertised
Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2023
This Michael Bennett story is definitely different than all the others. The change is probably due to the change in the co-author. Detective Bennett is now much more of a team member, has a partner and actually follows some rules. The story is interesting but too much of this story is spent on leads that go nowhere. Although this book likely better reflects how police actually work, it slows down the story. Character development also suffers; the reader has a better understanding of several characters/suspects who are not the killer than they do of the killer.
The title doesn’t fit, in my opinion, and the book promotion is just plain wrong. The word obsessed is stronger than the manner in which this killer behaved. New York City doesn’t even know there is a serial killer. Bennett’s daughter is NOT the object of the killer’s ‘obsession’ — there is no connection at all! Whoever wrote the promotional material either read a different book or didn’t read the book at all. This book is more of a police procedural than a psychological thriller.
In summary, different than most of the other Michael Bennett books, misleading title, wrong promotional info and somewhat disappointing. If you have a long to-be-read list, just skim or speed read this one and hope the next in the series is better.